Chromecast, Google’s affordable solution for transmitting computer screens to TVs, is getting an update that will boost the quality of its video streams.

Insider insights

Chrome development team member Francois Beaufort has given advanced notice of a forthcoming Chrome feature update.

It that will let Chromecast ignore select unnecessary data so that it can directly and efficiently stream video on a receiving device.

Improved performance

The update promises to extend battery life by reducing energy usage, and to give a solid bump to Chromecast video quality.

So far, the new feature is tested and working for tabs showing Vimeo video in full-screen mode. Other streaming services are intended to work too, but chances are the will be quirks and fails until the bugs are sorted out.

Try it now

These new features aren’t launched to the mainstream yet, but an early version of the code is already in Chrome. It’s accessible for you to test, if you know how.

To test it on your system:

1. Make sure Chrome is fully up-to-date.
2. Type in the omnibar chrome://flags/#media-remoting.
3. In the 'experimental features' menu that appears, find the drop-down for '#media-remoting during cast tab mirroring' (it should be highlighted)
4. Change that 'media-remoting' setting from ‘Default’ to ‘Enabled’.

How does your new streaming experience look and feel? Let us know in the comments.

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